This invention relates to a miniaturized ultrasound apparatus and method.
Ultrasound measuring apparatus of various types is in use at the present time for industrial and medical applications and particularly in medical diagnostic applications. Such apparatus, however, is often of a large size and is relatively expensive. In addition it is relatively complicated to use. There is a dramatic need for such apparatus which can be made more compact and less expensive and have greater simplicity in operation.
In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide a miniaturized ultrasound apparatus and method by which the apparatus can be greatly reduced in size and in cost.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above character which is portable.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above character which can be packaged in a pocket-sized hand-held device.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which power management is used to make possible low power requirements.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method in which detachable scan heads are utilized for selecting desired frequencies for the specific application envisioned.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which a particularly novel imaging approach has been utilized to collect all the data at one time utilized for making an image in one frame from transducer excitations less than thirty-three in number to thereby reduce required the electronics and to greatly reduce power consumption.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which it is possible to create a single frame per excitation of the ultrasonic transducer.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which a constant pixel density is obtained.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which averaging of preprocessed data can be achieved prior to image construction to provide signal-to-noise enhancement.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character which has an extremely low duty cycle.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character which can be utilized with linear, curved and phased arrays.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which a zoom feature is provided to make possible enlargement up to the inherent resolution of the transducer array.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which a non-volatile memory device is utilized in the scan head so that the associated electronics can be advised of the frequency range of the scan head.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character which is particularly useful in directing probes such as needles to a desired site.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which multiple images are provided of spaced-apart locations in the region of interest in the body.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which the multiple images are spaced apart at desired intervals.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which the multiple images are angularly spaced apart.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which the images of the spaced-apart locations are spaced apart at proportionate intervals.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which the spaced-apart images are sequentially displayed to create a kinetic image of the region of interest in the body.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which the multiple images are obtained by movement of the transducer array with respect to the body.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character which is applicable to a variety of medical diagnostic procedures.
Additional objects and features of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiments are set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.